Shortpacked: Familiar Faces

By Chris Troy

I’m sure by now, you, the Forbidden Planet blog reader, are dying to know what I think of the Green Lantern movie, as well as the DC Reboot this upcoming September (If not, please humor my frail ego). Well I saw the GL film this past weekend and I thought it was a very mediocre flick (I’m not alone apparently, as of this previous Monday, it’s yet to make it’s budget back). Despite a solid cast and some good CGI work, the script wasn’t very good, and that ruined my overall enjoyment of the film. Despite under-performing though, it seems Warner Bros is going ahead with a sequel, which hopefully will have a better plot, and some decent villains (and more cool toys!). Although it’s pretty much a safe bet for the sequel we’re getting Sinestro (it will be nice to see him in the film for more than 5 minutes). As for the “new” DCU this September, I’ll read anything written by Peter Milligan, Gail Simone and Grant Morrison, and it seems the Green Lantern titles are relatively unaffected, numbering aside. That’s good, because man, I’m not even going to get started on what’s wrong with this new Suicide Squad book. However Geoff John and Jim Lee are way overdue to handle a Justice League book, so it’s going to be nice to see that title being readable again. That being said, let that be a clever segway to our first new items this week: The Justice League classics Series 1. Based on the iconic versions of the characters, DC Direct’s 1st wave consists of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Granted these are all re-releases with new painted jobs, not to mention characters who’ve all have had many a figure before, it’s a welcomed release for any potential new collectors who want a vanilla Batman figure for their desk for book shelf. At $20 bucks a pop, what’s there to complain about right?

Speaking of reboots, we’re due for a new Thundercats cartoon it seems sometime in July on Carton Network, one heavy with Japanese flavor, as it’s drawn by a Japanese studio. Bandai holds the rights for the toy license this time around, so expect to see a ton of new toys and role playing accessories hitting the shelves soon. Worth noting is that the classic 80s Thundercats line wont be forgotten either, as Bandai has plans for a 8″ collector line. But Mezco is the first to the shelves with new Thundercats merch, as we recently stocked their Mega-sized Lion-O figure. Standing at a whopping 14″ and seeing for a little less than $40, this figure rocks about 7 points of articulation, and comes equipped with a removable Sword-of-Omens and Claw Shield. You may find the articulation lacking, but this is definitely meant more for display then play, which explains the impressive sculpt. I can’t imagine this being on our shelves for much longer, so come by ASAP if you want one.

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked models, but now that we’ve gotten some new stock in, it’s worth my time mentioning some of the cooler kits we got in. On the Gundam side of things, we’ve completely restocked our Gundam Wing and fan-favorite Zeta kits, including some Zeta kist we’ve never had before, as well as a new 1/100th Wing Gundam which looks quite awesome. Diamond and Kotobukiya have also teamed up to bring their Megaman/Rock-man model kits over to the US, which join Gundam and Evangelion in our kit section! Mega/Rock man, Roll and Protoman are the first releases, with a kit based on Zero being released within the next couple of months. These kits are fully articulated, and go for about $40 a pop, which is a bargain when compared to importing them (assuming you can find them online without a mark-up). And much like any new kit we get in, they’re sure to fly off the shelves quickly, so you’ll want to come buy to pick one up ASAP!